My disappointment must have shown on my face because he curled his hand around my chin and stroked my jaw gently.
“Aww. Baby, don’t look so sad. I’ll be back to bug you in the morning.” He winked again, and I couldn’t help the way my eyes fluttered at his casual yet possessive touch.
He let out a low hum and stroked my jaw again. “God, you’re so gorgeous,” he purred, and I watched his eyes darken at my obvious reaction to the way he was brushing his fingers along the side of my face.
I glanced at his mouth and swallowed. Fuck, I really didn’t want him to go. I didn’t want him going to Apex or to be anywhere near that man who had taken his life from him. There was this strange, fierce protectiveness welling inside me, and I found myself leaning closer to him.
I wanted to kiss him so bad.
I wanted to beg him not to go.
I wanted to tell him he didn’t have to hurt people. It didn’t have to be like that… but… what did I know? I didn’t have the means to protect him from someone like Damian Ryker. I was just a fucking mortician.
There was nothing I could do to stop a man like that from doing whatever he wanted to my…
To my… what? Myboyfriend?
I shook my head suddenly, trying to rid myself of these confusing and very complex feelings that were suddenly taking over.
Cal dropped his hand as I shook him off, and I told myself I was imagining the look of disappointment that crossed his face.
Had he been waiting for me to kiss him goodbye?
Shoving away the wave of guilt that coursed through me at the thought, I cleared my throat and popped open the passenger side door.
“Later, ginger snap,” Cal said, his voice strangely rough. Pausing, I glanced back at him, taking in the way his dark brows were pinched together and the way his thick hair curled at the nape of his neck.
“Yeah. Be… uhm. Be safe, okay?”
The smile that spread across his face was so genuine I suddenly had no doubt in my mind the smiles he had been flashing me for the last hour had been just for show.
“I’m always safe, gorgeous.” He smirked, and I stepped out of the car.
Then, he was gone.
Iwas feeling super fucking weird.
For the first time since I had met him, I wanted to get away from Ryan. I hadn’t expected him to react the way he had when hearing about my past, and it was making me feel all kinds of fucked up.
The way he kept staring at me like I was some broken thing was stressing me the fuck out.
He was overreacting. My past wasn’tthatbad. Hadn’t he seen my house? It was really nice… it was more than a house, it was ahome.
Naomi had grown uphappyin that house, and that was all possible because of the work I did for Ryker.
I refused to feel bad about it or feel sorry for myself for all the things I had needed to sacrifice to make that happen. Ryan just didn’t understand.
Letting out a tense breath, I rolled my head on my neck, cracking it to release the strange uptight feeling that wouldn’t seem to go away.
It was fine. I was fine.
Ryan would forget all about this in time. I would just have to do my best to avoid bringing it up again, and then we could go back to normal.
That made me chuckle.
Normal. HA!
Whatever Ryan and I had certainly wasn’t normal, but whatever.
